Category: Skincare

I just want to give you a quick update to the Earthwise Beauty products that I’m currently using as part of my face care routine. Cistus and Moonlight was a gifted PR-sample, the other products have been in my June Boxwalla Beauty Box that I bought with my own money.

I mixed some of my dried herbs and flowers for a facialsteam, including lavender, chamomile, rose petals, calendula and hibiscus flowers, just to name a few. I do steam before applying a face mask and use the sud as a hair rinse afterwards.

Empties

In the last weeks I tried to get rid of some sample sachets that pile up in my sample drawer. Yes, I admit it: I have a small drawer where I have to stock samples and trial sizes because there are soo much of them. I used up quite a lot and liked some of the products.

Yüli Halcyon Cleanser: I liked it so much that I bought a full size.

Dr. Alkaitis Organic Treatment Oil: This is part of the travel kit which I also bought.

Urtekram Blond Shampoo: When I think about it, I like Urtekram as a brand very much. I also used up a large bottle of shampoo and have stocked some other items. I am not blonde, but the shampoo was even nice for my hair. It is good to know for me that the formulation of their hair care products work for me!

Safeas Fig Hydro Active Moisturizing Cream: Although it contains glycerin – which I tend to avoid – my skin was happy with this sample. The consistency is lighter than most creams I use, so this could be a product for summer.

I used up a lot more samples than these ones, and afterwards my skin showed me that I should get rid of my sample stash. Okay, you won.Continue reading “Zeitgeist #6”

I love the warmth and density of spicy scents. Patchouli smells kind of sweet and spicy, in combination with ylang-ylang it seems almost flowery itself. Incense remains more on the cool side of spicyness, for me it is not as complex as patchouli and smells maybe a little dull. Yet I like it much! Sandalwood, as the name suggests, smells woody. Together with citrusy scents it adds volume to every composition.

In music, for me …
… patchouli would be a bariton in “Ameno”.
… sandalwood would be the cello in “Tonight“.
… incense were background choir in “Ronja Rövardotter“.

But as in music, these scents don’t go solo. They take their part in an orchestra of ingredients and essential oils blended together to create some wonderful skincare.

Frankincense promotes healing, fades scars, helps against acne and evens the skin tone as well as lifts the skin. It reduces the appearance of large pores, combats wrinkles and fine lines and has a calming effect on the mind.

Patchouli helps with acne and skin irritation, it is cell regenerative, antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-aging. It counteraffects inflammation and promotes healing.

Sandalwood is effective for acne and eczema and reduces large pores. It is good for very dry, dehydrated and sensitive skin.

You can add 5 drops of essential oil to 30ml carrier oil for a body treatment oil or 10 drops of essential oils to 100ml carrier oil to get a face oil. Also you can use incense, patchouli and sandalwood hydrosols as face or body mist.

(I gathered these informations from all the manufacturers websites that make these and more lovely products containing incense, sandalwood and patchouli.)

I am so happy to share this blogpost with you. Finally I have found a hair oil that is not weighing down, making my hair manageable and soft. The myrto-naturalcosmetics antistatic hair oil is by far the best hair oil I have used!

Today I am going to show you my spring skincare routine. Most people have a two part beauty regimen (morning and evening), mine consists of three parts.

Morning

My morning routine begins with a cleanse. I tend to use non foaming cleansing agents as cleansing milks, at the moment it is the renew gentle cleansing milk. After that I like to apply a serum to my skin. My skin is very dry and does not tolerate glycerin and alcohol in larger amounts, so I chose a serum without both of them (bioearth bioprotettiva siero viso with hyaluronic acid). Third step is to apply a toner, and I prefer pure hydrosols. This one is from dabba ♦ and I have nearly finished it up, but I have some others from dabba, maienfelser and biopark as backup. I cannot be without hydrosols as they are my way to lock in moisture under my day cream. My moisturiser is the martina gebhardt summer time cream ♦ which I can highly recommend! It is a cold cream that sinks into my skin in no time. For those who do not like heavy creams, there is a summer time face and body lotion as well. The ingredients are to support the skin before and after sun exposure. Last step in the morning is to apply my mysalifree eye balm ♦: the lightweight lotion pampers my eye area with extra moisture without stinging in the eyes, after that I am well prepared for my mineral make up concealer.

Evening

In the evening I do double-cleanse my skin. First I remove my make-up, the best product I have used so far is the cattier micellar water. I soak a cotton round in the cleanser and gently press that onto my eyes, that removes mascara without rubbing. It’s just a little dabbing 🙂 . With the backside of the cotton round I take away foundation and lipstick. Second cleanse is a cleansing milk or a slightly foaming cleansing lotion, at the moment I prefer gentle products like the heliotrop cleansing milk ♦. They remove the rest of make-up and leave my skin hydrated and prepared for the next step. Which is – who could guess? – a hydrosol. After a bad cold episode in march my skin is still pretty unbalanced and I have a lot of brakeouts beneath the jar line. To manage that I use a toner that does contain alcohol as it disinfects the skin. Currently it is the farfalla immortelle (everlasting) hydrosol ♦. Onto the moist, prepared skin I apply a moisturiser, at the moment I am very pleased with the antipodes avocado pear nourishing night cream. I bought a travel size of this cream, and despite I’m not nearly half through the tube, I think about ordering a full size. If I like to, I also apply a tiny amount of the eye lotion in the evening.

I wrote about three steps in my routine, so here it is, the mysterious part that helps me getting my skin hydrated and soft

Immediately after waking up …

… I massage a nourishing oil into my skin. That is basically the first thing I do in the morning! It’s like a wake-up-call for my skin, it activates the cell functions and helps to loosen impurities and breakdown products. In the picture you can see the antipodes joyous protein-rich night replenish serum. This oil based serum was too much for my skin at night, but it performs well in the early morning as it does not sink into the skin and allows me the massage without dragging my skin. I love the scent! Nevertheless I am going to pass on this serum to a fellow blogger. Theresa is a fan of antipodes and I know she is going to love the serum more than I do now. Don’t worry, I have stocked up with several facial oils that I am curious to try!
After the massage I apply an eye gel (logona rose & aloe eye gel) to cool my eye area. As the gel dries, puffiness is reduced and I feel refreshed. Now I am ready for breakfast and the day can begin! Usually I tend to use cheaper products for this step as they will be washed off about half an hour later.Do you have a routine and which products do you use?
Transparency:
♦ = product sample

I went to the natural and organic beauty trade fairVivaness in February, and finally I can share some of my personal highlights.

Aromata Mirabilia – Lithuania

Aromata Mirabilia was one of my favourites! They have aromatherapy balms and candles, oils and oilblends, hydrosols, mazerates, soaps and so much more to discover. The prices are pretty low in comparison to other known brands. I like the simple style and layout of the containers and am in love with their strawberry lip scrub.

Florascent – Germany

Florascent provide a very wide range of all kind of perfume and aromatherapy sprays. I was overwhelmed with the variety of the products and have by now bought two aromatherapy sprays. You can spray them on your hands and inhale the scent – perfect for headache moments at work!

Martina Gebhardt – Germany

Martina Gebhardt‘s new Summer Time Line is made especially to provide moisture to the skin, to prevent and help heal sun damages. The cream is my absolute go-to-product, and despite it is a very heavy cream, it sinks into my skin and makes it as hydrated as possible. For me and my oily-dry-skin the best cream ever.

Mysalifree – Austria

Mysalifree addresses to people that are allergic against salicylic acid and have irritated skin. The products are composed to calm the skin and do not contain gluten, essential oils or perfume, dyes and other nasties. The eye balm is a gel-like lotion and sinks in pretty quickly:

Unique – Denmark

Unique work with organic whey which is a waste product in dairy production. The smell of the products is divine, and in future they will lance a new hair oil that is incredibly lightweight for an oil blend. I put about 5 drops of oil in the lengths of my hair and it was all soaked up and left my hair shiny and my natural waves a little defined but not greasy at all. Hopefully it will be in the shops this summer!

Zuii Organic – Australia

Zuii is my absolutely most-loved make-up brand. Instead of talc they use milled flowers as base of their powder products, and the organic amount in their formulations is pretty high! I am soon going to show a super easy eye make-up with only black and white eye shadow!

The packaging is sophisticated black, also the containers themselves, and you can see one of the eye shadows in my blog header 🙂 .

Friends

What would life be without the best co-bloggers? I got some really nice and special green beauty products:

Frau Wuselig gave me a Living Nature foundation that I use at least two times a week.

Nixenhaar had the darkest shade of Hauschka’s new foundation left over and it was way too dark for her – good for me, as the shade is nearly exactly my summer complexion.

Anita gave me a Ponyhütchen deodorant cream as present which I am curios to try.

Ahnungslose Wissende brought a Kivvi Body Marmalade with her to thank me for fetching her from the station the day she went to the fair.

For body and facial care I like to use oils. My favourite oils are argan and sacha inchi oil, but also oilblends are in high rank for me. I always check the fatty acids of my oils and oilblends because oils high in linolenic and linoleic acids work best for me.

Maienfelser is a small company that provides lots of oils, hydrolates and essential oils as well as other natural cosmetics. Recently I placed an order for some oils:

tree body oil

youngster fine face oil

youngster super face oil

midlife face oil

redpower oil

meadowfoam oil

The face oils are blends, and I like that the ingredients show themselves in the colour of the oils, so you really now that there is a difference! For the ingredients, please check my German blogpost via google translate *here*.

The face oil I like the most by now is the Youngster Super, and that is a blend of macadamia nut oil, sacha inchi oil, coconut oil, grape seed oil, camellia oil (?), meadowfoam oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, castor oil, rosehip oil, essential essences of lime blossom, ylang-ylang, rosewood and tangerine. It sinks into my skin almost immediately and leaves my skin prepared for my moisturiser. I did never ever think that this could happen, as in the past there was no oil for me that worked with my skin. I started over with sacha inchi (recommendation of a beauty blog) which is great, but this face oil also smells really good.

The price is pretty affordable, for the 10 ml travel size you pay three to four €uro and for 50 ml about 15 to 20 €, and we are talking facial oil blends here. Maienfelser ship worldwide and have resellers in some countries.

In future, I think you will read lots of Maienfelser talk here, because I like them so much. I own several hydrolates, and I layer them under the facial oil, and that all together with a moisturiser makes my skin feel soft and hydrated.

I own herbal shampoo powders which do not contain any fluid. You mix them with water (on your head, in your palm, in a container) and use them like normal shampoo. Today there will be a beauty battle with the Khadi Herbal Hairwash Powder vs. Eliah Sahil Shampoo Natural Volume & Shine

It is extremely mild & beneficial for those who have sensitive skin. Free from any chemicals or preservatives it is especially for those who suffer allergies from chemicals which are present in soaps & shampoos. It can also be used as a mild baby shampoo for keeping scalp clean & free from infections.

Really good ingredients in this one, but I do not find any information if the herbs are from organic farming. BDIH certified and vegan.

Packaging (9/10)
The powder comes in a metal container and is sealed in an extra plastic bag inside. The packaging works perfectly with the powder. There is no trial size available for this product.

Marketing and Price (7/10)
Filling quantity: 150 g which cost 8,90€ (base price per 100 g = 5,93 €)
The marketing statements are not supported and I do not know if the advertising claims have been fulfilled on me, so: no. The price is okay.

Subjectives (5/10)
When I first used the product, I liked it very much. It was the first powder shampoo I ever used, so I had nothing to compare it with. But after some time I just tried to use up the product even that I liked it: the powder is not finely ground, the application is messy, having it on my hair is messy, washing out the stuff is messy, the hair smells of the product which my husband doesn’t like. It was nice having it on my hair, but it took really long time to get my hair clean. For me, the Khadi powder is just not practical enough.

All in all: (30/40)
The Khadi Herbal Hairwash Powder has really good ingredients but is practically not usable for me. If the powder was really finely milled, that would improve the application so much.

The ingredients are great, but I do not find information if the ingredients are organic.
BDIH certified and vegan.

Packaging (8/10)
The powder comes in a metal jar; there is only a small hole in the top of the container, so you could use the powder directly on your hair.
I like the packaging in the metal jar. What I personally do not like is the small hole: when I use the product, I measure with a spoon. It is not convenient to do this with this packaging as I always spill some product. Yet when you use the powder directly on your hair, this could work very well to prevent overdosage.

Marketing and Price (6/10)
The marketing statements are not supported. The price is still okay. There is no travel size available at the internet shops I know, but I have seen some in unboxing blog posts.

Subjectives (9/10)
I really, really like the products from Silvio Perpmer, the owner of Eliah Sahil and Planet Pure. When I use this powdered shampoo, I measure a sponge into a small container, fill it with water and shake gently. After that I use it absolutely the same way as I would use every other diluted shampoo. It feels nice on the scalp and gently foams in my hair, and it is very easy to wash it out. It smells softly like Indian herbs, but the scent does not stay in my hair in a bad way, more like an earthy, herbal background scent that works good with my perfume and other body products. The ingredients are good, and the price is totally okay for me. Silvio wants to create products that are both good for the environment and the consumer, and he hits the target with this powder shampoo. The only thing which I do not like is the opening in the container as mentioned before. It would be easy to refill the powder into another container, but I simply do not want to.

All in all: 31/40
Yeah. I like. Totally. All that marketing stuff is not that important for me, as I know, Silvio would never ever use something in his products that would harm anyone. The stuff cleans my hair, I have nothing at all to worry about!

So how went the battle?INCI: no winner. Both products have really good ingredients.Packaging: Khadi has one point in advantage. Both have environmentally friendly and reusable packaging, but I like the Khadi one more.Price: Eliah Sahil costs more than twice the price of Khadi.My personal experience: Eliah Sahil’s powder shampoo is a lot more convenient than Khadi’s.

Eliah Sahil Natural powdered shampoo

My personal winner is the Eliah Sahil shampoo. I do not mind paying for it as it is a great product. In fact, I want to try more products from Eliah Sahil. They are by far underestimated in terms of ingredients and production conditions.

In September I got lots of new beauty things. Mostly travel sizes, but also some full size products.

Replacement:Cattier Perle d’eau, micellar water. This is my second bottle and I absolutely love it. Nothing removes my eye make-up as gentle as this remover.

Full sizes:Alterra Orange Soap and Sandalwood soap. Soap. I used these for my enzyme peeling soap bars.Alterra Eyeliner Flashing Star & Liquid Eyeliner. I am not that good at using eyeliner, and mostly I go without. But I want to learn how to use liquid eyeliner, and here I have one with a brush and one with a felt tip.Benecos Natural Mineral Powder in Golden Hazelnut(the darkest of the 4 colours). Hopefully this will mattify my skin. The colour is a little bit dark, so if it works for my, I think I will buy a lighter tone, too.Khadi Reetha Powder (soapnut powder). I use this mostly for washing my hair, but it is not as finely ground as I wished it was. I had the washing powder once, now I give the pure soapnut powder a chance.

Travel sizes:Farfalla Feel Beautiful Travelset. I am so curious about Farfalla. Most of their products are certified organic and vegan, so I will test them. I like the brand, they seem nice as they cover most my requirements that I have on beauty products.Intelligent Nutrients Volumizing Spray. If I use hairspray twice a month, that is often for me. My conventional hairspray is nearly empty and I wanted to replace it with a greener version.Khadi Face- and body Oil White Lily Travel Size. This is going to be an experiment for a face oil blend.Less is More Lindengloss Finishing Spray. This should work together with the hair spray.Sensena Shower Peeling and Seasalt-Oil-Bath Walnut & Fig. The last salt scrub I bought is long gone, I usually do other peelings.

Trial Sizes and other Stuff:Ebelin Dupe to Invisibobble Traceless Hair Ring: nice hair ribbon that stays in place. It is gentle to my hair and gives hold to my ponytail or bun.i+m Phyto Balance 24h Moisturizer Trial Size: My skin is super dry on some days, and I want to find a moisturizer that really helps on dry patches and makes my skin smooth and hydrated.Interdental Brushes to comb through my lashes after I applied mascara.Sanoll Hair End Moisturizing Cream Trial Size, with goats milk. My hair ends are very dry, I have to moisture them otherwise they will split or break.Ebelin Shampoo and Massage Brush, never tried a shampoo brush before, it should help to massage oily hair treatments into the roots.

Transparency
On the photo above you see products that have been sent to me, too:

Indemne Gimme Clear! Travel Size: Dry oil to help with blemishes, whiteheads and acne discolouration.Indemne Gimme Smooth!: Dry oil to help with cellulite and orange skin.Maybritt Krewald MK organic pure aronia A (aroniajuice): Juice with high ORAC level to protect skin.Maybritt Krewald MK organic pure oil W (foodstuff oilblend): “Beauty begins inside” is Maybritt’s slogan, that means that you treat your skin with good oils from the inside. I take oil and juice stirred together as a shot every morning.